


Sam Worthington isn't even blue

by Peskychloe



Series: Spinal Injury AU [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Director Ennoshita Chikara, Established Relationship, M/M, spinal injury au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 01:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13513752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peskychloe/pseuds/Peskychloe
Summary: Short future fic





	Sam Worthington isn't even blue

Of all the gardens on the street, theirs always stood out as being the least cared for. It wasn't really their fault, none of the neighbours blamed them, but it didn't stop Yuuji feeling guilty. The roses in the border needed pruning, and the lawn had grown so far beyond 'pleasant overgrown meadow', Yuuji could no longer claim to be trying to save bees.

But the lawnmower was a job for the weekend, not a Tuesday evening when he'd been stuck in traffic after work and couldn't wait to run a bath oozing neroli scented steam.

“Ahoy!” he shouted as he walked in, kicking off his shoes, before turning back to throw them into the basket – the place Chikara had designated for them had made his life easier and saved at least ten minutes of pacing around looking for them before work, might as well use it.

“In here,” came his voice from the work room.

Yuuji couldn't help but grin; it didn't matter that they'd been living together for ten years, seeing Chikara's smiling face again after hours away was still the highlight of his day. Poking his head around the door, he sighed seeing Chikara was still working in failing evening light.

“You're still up. What'cha doin'?” he asked, sidling behind Chikara and looping his arms around his neck and dropping a chin on his shoulder.

Chikara's table was strewn with photographs, the type actors send out for castings, although the majority had been thrown onto the floor with a flick of the stick hanging in his mouth.

The stick joined the photographs as Chikara spat it out, turning his head to kiss Yuuji hello. “Got up late.”

“Nurses late again?”

Chikara nodded and stretched his neck back, eyes closing. “Not their fault, but it meant I lost most of the day.”

“You still manage some work?”

“Yeah, I edited for a while, but it's not easy from bed,” he sighed.

Standing up, Yuuji began massaging his shoulders; the muscle was stretched tight across them, popping under his fingertips as they pressed into it. The only sounds for a few minutes were Chikara's satisfied hums, and an occasional snuffle from Ronnie as she slept curled up around his feet.

As Yuuji finished, he kissed Chikara's nape and peered at the table's contents. “So, what's with the mugshots?”

“Casting started. They asked me what I thought of the possibles.”

“Ah, that's sweet. Who are these meant to be?” He shuffled through the photos, a selection of young dark-haired men. “I would have said you, but none of them are good looking enough.”

“You should see the ones for you.” He nodded at another manilla folder sitting on his desk. “I'm sending it back. They're all...I dunno. They're not right somehow.”

“Are they not sexy enough?” he said with a grin, “I know I'm so hot none of that lot could match up, but you should at least look.”

“Well, to be honest, they're _too_ good looking, if anything. They don't have that...dorky charm you had as a teenager.”

“You can go off people, ya know,” Yuuji tutted as he picked up the folder of blonde-haired actors. Flipping through them, he had to agree with Chikara, although he wouldn't say so. “There's girls in here. Thought you made your mind up?”

When he was asked about making a film based on his book, Chikara had struggled to agree; firstly he said he'd need to be part of the script writing, then felt conflicted about what kind of story it should be. The production company were eager to play up the romance, obviously, but it made him uncomfortable to think about his relationship being depicted. They'd spent many nights, he and Yuuji, discussing which way to go, swinging between keeping it as a same-sex romance or changing Yuuji into a woman to make it easier to deal with seeing themselves on screen. The last discussion on the subject was finished with Chikara deciding he had to stay true to himself and make his character gay.

“I was thinking about it again,” Chikara said, “And, I think I might need the distance more than I thought.”

“I hope they sent you mostly gay actors then.” He bent to retrieve the stick, popping it back between Chikara's lips, then picked up the pile of discarded photos on the floor, tapping them to straighten the edges. As he placed them in the envelope, he paused, pulling them back out again, thumbing through them with a frown.

“What's up?” Chikara asked, looking through photos on his table again.

“None of these are disabled,” Yuuji said, still looking through them. The actors were all dark-haired, of varying races, but not one of them was sitting in a wheelchair. He quickly scanned the backs of a few to see if there was any other information, before waving the pile in the air. “Is that why they're rejects?”

“What do you mean?”

“They're playing you, yeah? And this story is about your accident, so why aren't any of them quadriplegic?”

“Well, they...I mean. There's stuff from before the accident too, maybe a third of the film is before or flashbacks, so...yeah.”

“That's bullshit!” Yuuji's voice raised in indignation. “I'd expect that from anyone else but you. Disabled actors exist, why do people keep doing this!”

“A number of reasons. Usually it's because they need the box office draw of more famous actors. It's the same principle as using white actors instead of people of colour.”

“You say it like you're okay with that,” Yuuji grumbled, “I can't believe you want to work in this fucking industry.”

“What would you have them do?” Chikara said irritably.

“Two actors. I mean, that's what they do when it's different ages, they just get a kid to play them when they're younger. Bosh!”

“But how's that going to work?

Yuuji stood to his full height, and started counting on his fingers in that way that made Chikara roll his eyes, sigh, and strap himself in for a rant. “Number one. They hire a disabled actor to play the scenes where you're, you know, _disabled_. Two, they hire another actor for the scenes where you aren't. I don't see why this is hard!”

“So you're saying they hire an actor, and then find a disabled actor who looks enough like him so people believe it's the same person?”

“Nope. I'm saying get the disabled actor first,” Yuuji sighed, before snapping his head up from stroking Ronnie. “Hang on, what do you mean, 'looks enough like him'?” He tapped a finger on his chain, elaborately. “Does Gary Oldman look like Winston Churchill?”

“He does in that new film.”

“Be-caaaause?” Yuuji said, leaning in grinning, winding his hand waiting for an answer.

Chikara sighed in resignation. “He’s wearing make-up.”

“Exactly! You make up the actor to look like the disabled actor. It's pretty fucking easy.” He stuck a finger in the air. “Ya know what? That bloke on the boat...can't think of the film. Anyway, he had his legs photoshopped out. Or...oh, that woman! In the dragon thing. She wasn't really naked. It's incredible what they can do with effects these days. You could probably get away with using a disabled actor for the whole film, then you wouldn't even need make-up!”

“Are you suggesting you have a disabled actor and give them a moving body in post production?”

“Yeah! I mean, I know that has its own issues but...”

Frowning, Chikara shook his head and said, “I wouldn't want to see myself walking. I'm sure other disabled people feel the same.”

After a minute of thought, Yuuji agreed. “You're right, I wouldn't want to see that either. Make-up for sure, then.”

Chikara smiled. “I love when you get passionate. You get all grumpy and stubborn. It's really cute.”

Yuuji stopped ranting, and stood in front of Chikara, still holding up his finger. “One film needs to do it. Just one. That’s all. Someone needs to step up and show everyone how it's done. Then everyone would be used to it.”

Smiling back at him, Chikara said softly, “And you think I'm the one to do that?”

Yuuji stroked his finger down Chikara's cheek to his chin, lifting it. “Who else?”

  
  


*

  
  


“Yuuji? You still awake?”

“No.”

“I decided. I'll do it.”

“Knew you would.”

“But I'm making you into a woman. It's more important to me that people watch it. More people will watch a man and a woman fall in love. I'll change the world one step at a time.”

“Okay.”

“Is that alright with you?”

“Only if you shush and let me sleep. And write out the toilet wank.”

  
  


  
  


 


End file.
